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Planet Skaro Audios
'History' Season One The Planet Skaro audios began in 2006 with an adaptation of a novella previously written by Si Hunt and Simon Hart in 2002, Echoes of the Protii. A partial sequel to Nightmare of Eden, this story unleashed the popular Vera Jundrey on an unwitting world, along with her wayward adopted grandson Scott who would both return in a future adventure. Paul Monk took on the role of the Doctor, with Dave Tudor and Steven Alexander playing his companions, Nick and Rob McCow. Made by volunteers from the Planet Skaro forum, "Echoes of the Protii" went down well with the forum and raised over £200 for Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was soon decided that a follow up could be made, and so in early 2007, a second story was recorded, "Soap of Fatal Death" which again adapted a novella written in 2003. This saw the Doctor investigate mysterious goings on behind the scenes of popular soap opera Clear Waters (which had featured in Echoes of the Protii and ended with a massive cliffhanger which apparently featured the demise of the Doctor. With both the Doctor and Nick missing, Rob took centre stage for a present day Earth adventure, "Keepsake" which featured the return of The Celestial Toymaker. Nick and the Doctor returned in "Magical History Tour", which is perhaps the most ambitious story attempted yet. Set in 2007, 1967 and the mid 1700s, this time spanning adventure brought back the Doctor and the TARDIS, and brought Nick and Rob to the fore, as they both struggled to deal with a life without the Doctor. At the end of the adventure, Nick is still angry and upset, and a mini-episode was made to reconcile this, Consequences which restored their relationship and left everything happy before the crew visited the planet of Tinsel in the constellation Bauble for the fun Christmas adventure, "Doctor Who and the Christmas Gnomes". This story saw the return of Vera, now married to Father Christmas himself; and the return of her evil Grandson, Scott, now teamed up with the Minister of Peace, Kestero. With reindeer, gnomes and Father Christmas this adventure was great fun! 'Season Two' With Nick and Rob dropped off on Peladon for a while, the Doctor took time out to travel alone for a while, encountering a space tree and Edward Bradley along the way in Heart of the Haniad. Ed Bradley also features in the follow up, "Heist!", in which the Doctor tried desperately to get the TARDIS back from the Zunestra Collection, having to team up with the mysterious Jann Cordelis against conman Byron Zunestra. This is the last adventure with Ed for now, but there are more planned for 2009. Set some time after the Doctor's travels with Ed, The Doctor, Rob and Nick came up against the enigmatic Tor Garane and his plans with "The Paradise Machine". The Doctor has picked up Rob and Nick from the travelling break they took at the end of The Christmas Gnomes. The classic TARDIS team returned towards the end of Summer 2008 in a historical adventure titled "The Curse of Ratanapura", which saw the Doctor answer a call from the Space Time Telegraph to the remote Isle of Skye on New Year's Eve 1899 and revealed that The Doctor had a former companion named Rosalind. The next story, "Eye of the Daleks", saw them caught up in a war between the Daleks and the Krotons. For Children in Need, there was a special 15 minute episode "Many Happy Returns" made available for download, which featured Nick and Rob trying to organise a birthday celebration for the Doctor, and bringing back many familiar faces from previous stories. "Christmas Spirits", a feature-length episode which introduced The Master to the audio series, was released in December and concluded the second season. Season Three The third season of adventures from Planet Skaro Audios will be the most ambitious yet, having been in production since Summer 2008. The first episode of the season, "A Baron For All Seasons", was the first ever Doctor-less episode, and reintroduced the characters of Tor Garane and the Baron of Boralis. The story was continued in the next adventure, "Blood Money", which saw the Doctor, Rob and Nick travel to Earth in the midst of the Boralan and Skraith war - and the Doctor forced into a deadly alliance with Tor Garane in order to stop the ruthless Skraith from destroying the entire planet. Edward Bradley returned in the next story, "The Hand of Peace" by Jon Masters, which saw the Doctor combating an old foe on Earth, while trying to help an old friend. This story featured the return of the Mara, and the first appearance of U.N.I.T in a Planet Skaro Audio adventure. Lissa Levesque's "Wealth of Craytians" followed, in which the Doctor and Ed were caught up in a very unusual war between the Craytians and the Shroon. Rob and Nick returned for the close of the season, "The Kalrexi Mutation", which featured what appeared to be a new incarnation of the Doctor. Short appearances by this 'new' Doctor (played by Alex Finch) occurred throughout the series, foreshadowing the finale. Season Four The fourth season began in August 2010 with the story of how Edward Bradley's travels with the Doctor came to an end in "Sting of the Time Bees", which was written by Steven Alexander. As well as telling the tale of how Ed came to leave The Doctor, the story also introduced his grandfather, Gene Bradley and featured the first appearance of the Ice Warriors in a PS Audio adventure. This was followed by Paul Monk's "Once Upon a Time Lord" in October 2010. Set before the prior story, Ed finds himself stranded on a fairytale world, and must work his way through a weird array of characters and scenarios to defeat an evil Queen, rescue a Princess and find the Doctor. This story was also the first PSA to feature a fully original score, by composer Andrew Clancy. Released in June 2011 was the four part epic "Massanicassa", exploring the origins of the Doctor's companion Nick, as well as what became of his titular home planet. The Doctor then found himself under the insidious influence of Tor Garane in "Asylum" in December 2011, with the evil reptile planning an an invasion on a massive scale. This story also marked the first appearance of Rob and Ed in the same story. December also saw the release new writer Richard Brinck-Johnson's "Merry Christmas, Rob McCow", which saw Christmas with the family and friends of the Doctor's loyal, if blundering, companion. Featuring cameos from a huge number of PSA regulars, this single episode adventure also saw the first appearance of a member of the oft-mentioned Sparkle Tribe. The season concluded in March 2012 with the three part finale, "The Next Universe." This story touched on many elements and characters from the series' past, including the cast of Clear Waters, Vera, and Scott. The story ended on a cliffhanger, leading into a fifth season, due to begin in May 2012. Due to problems in production, the release order of Season Four differs greatly from the chronological order. The chronological order of stories is: Once Upon a Time Lord; Sting of the Time Bees; Massanicassa; Merry Christmas, Rob McCow; Asylum; The Next Universe. Season Five Season Five will start in May 2012 with the mini-episode "Echoes of the Doctor", followed by one three-part and six two-part adventures 'Productions' 'Unproduced Adventures' * See Unproduced Planet Skaro Audio Adventures 'Production History' * See Production History 'Links' * Planet Skaro Main Website * Planet Skaro Audios Page * An Interview with Planet Skaro members (July 2008) 'See Also' * Planet Skaro Doctor * Nick * Rob McCow * Edward Bradley * Tor Garane * Baron of Boralis * Vera Jundrey category:Audio Production Groups